Animal Biopsy Treatment Oshkosh WI

For skin and subcutaneous masses, many surgeons favor a spring-loaded Tru-cut biopsy needle. There are a variety of manufacturers, diameters and lengths. What is needed depends on the nature and the size of the mass.

How to Efficiently Biopsy Lumps, Bumps

During a routine visit, an owner points out a mass on the medial hock of her 6-year-old boxer.

A strange-looking 8–year-old German shepherd has a huge nasal mass.

A 10-year-old Labrador has a large, firm mass along the entire caudal thigh.

What are your rule-outs?

What do you tell your clients?

“Just watch it.”

“Come back for a recheck in six months.”

“Big surgeons make big incisions. Let’s amputate the body part in question.”

“I would recommend further testing.”

Obviously, all Veterinary Practice News readers chose the fourth and only reasonable answer. The classic expression “Just watch it” has been dubbed the three deadliest words in veterinary medicine.

Yes, “further testing” is in order. Either a fine-needle aspirate (FNA) or a biopsy should be performed. Because they provide information about the architecture, in addition to the cell types, biopsies tend to be more accurate and informative than FNAs.

Here are some suggestions for taking biopsies.

Core Biopsy For skin and subcutaneous masses, many surgeons favor a spring-loaded Tru-cut biopsy needle. There are a variety of manufacturers, diameters and lengths. What is needed depends on the nature and the size of the mass.

There are typically two firing modes so that a short or a long sample can be harvested. It is slightly more invasive than an FNA, only because the diameter of the needle is larger than an injection needle. This should be a sterile procedure, performed under heavy sedati...